


Always

by Taste_of_Suburbia



Category: Resident Evil (Movieverse)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family, Fandom Stocking 2018, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 22:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17395241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taste_of_Suburbia/pseuds/Taste_of_Suburbia
Summary: Claire, the light to Alice’s inner guilt and grief and darkness. The light leading her to an eventual way out of this world, guiding her to mold it into something better.





	Always

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rebecca_selene](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebecca_selene/gifts).



> A gift for rebecca_selene’s stocking for Fandom Stocking. 
> 
> Set during Afterlife: a missing scene from their brief stay in the prison.

Alice could just make out a figure in the dark, flickering torchlight playing off of her dark red hair.

“Claire?”

Barely a heartbeat before a curious and desperate, “Alice?” The voice was small and scared, starting to crack around the edges. Alice suddenly felt a knot in the pit of her stomach for losing track of Claire, even for the last hour or so. While she knew that the other woman could take care of herself, she could scarcely imagine how disorienting and even - in this broken world - terrifying it would be to wake up to someone claiming they know you, fought beside you, tried to protect you, yet not remembering yourself and not even recognizing your own name.

She knelt down beside Claire, who thankfully didn’t move away. “What are you doing sitting here alone in the dark?”

A long pause, as if Claire were searching for the right words. As if she were afraid Alice would flee. “I just… needed some time to think, away from everyone else.”

Alice had hoped that the long flight would restore her friend, but she tried not to feel too disappointed when Claire had only asked her to sever her bonds, eyes bright but not with recognition. It was enough that Claire had stopped trying to escape and run from her. Umbrella’s poison ran deep and maybe it was only time that could serve as its remedy in Claire’s case.

She nodded in understanding at Claire’s words and bit her lip, wondering whether she should have just let her be and whether she should have the decency to backpedal now, give the redhead some much needed space, but Claire’s sudden hand on her arm froze her in place. Her fingers curled around Alice’s wrist in an almost bruising grip. “Stay. Please.”

Good. She didn’t want to leave anyway.

The two of them sat side by side in silence, a silence that Alice didn’t mind; she never was one much for useless words anyway. She inched closer, shoulder brushing against Claire’s as soon as her hand left Alice’s, just letting her know that she was right there, ready to be whatever Claire needed, ready to catch her if she fell or answer her questions or just sit there for the next hour, thinking everything over herself.

“Do you think it’ll come back?”

“Yes,” Alice responded without hesitation. It had to. Everything would work out.

Claire continued as if her question hadn’t been answered. “Do you think I’ll remember me? Do you think I’ll remember  _you?”_

And what if Claire never remembered her? Would it matter? It wouldn’t make Alice love her any less, or thank god or fate or whoever the hell else was out there for bringing her back safely into Alice’s arms, someone to keep fighting for and breathing for and  _living for._

“I  _want_ to remember you. I want to remember who you were to me because I  _know_ you’re someone I cared about. And I know that you’re right here and that I still care about you but I don’t know what we were and I don’t know how we broke apart and….”

Alice laid a firm hand on Claire’s arm. “Stop. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Claire shook her head, a flicker of movement as Alice stared at her hard, unwavering, as if Claire would slip away at any moment, out of Alice’s reach  _again._ “It matters to me.”

Alice kissed her then, hand sliding down to slip into Claire’s and squeezing it with every ounce of strength in her, claiming her, holding her still. Her mouth met Claire’s perfectly in the almost darkness, as if there was no way they’d ever  _not_ find each other. Tension leeched out of the redhead inch by inch and Alice took it, bended it and folded it until it was melded down into nothing. She stopped worrying and focused entirely on the sweet taste of Claire’s lips, like cherry gumdrops and fulfilled promises and long-lost love. Like joy itself. 

Claire, the light to Alice’s inner guilt and grief and darkness. The light leading her to an eventual way out of this world, guiding her to mold it into something better.

They both broke away, breathing hard, damp foreheads pressed together, Claire’s small smile a streak of golden light in the dark. Alice ran her fingers through Claire’s soft hair and caught her lover’s teardrops in her palm. “No matter what happens, I will  _always_ be here. I’m never letting you out of my sight again, Claire. Do you trust me?”

Claire nodded, pressing a kiss into Alice’s cheek. “It’s the one thing I  _do_ know, that I  _can_ trust you. And I’ve got your back too.  _Always,_ Alice _.”_

_Always…_ Alice ponders, rolling it over and over in her head until it finds a hole and squeezes in there, never to be pried loose, always there like a familiar mantra. It’s the only thing they need, the only promise that need be shared and given life between them. 

**FIN**

 


End file.
